Apparatus for the control of track indicators



L. E. SPRAY u Feb. 25, 1930.

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Vi0 Y bodying my invention,-and lwill then point out the novel features thereof in claims.

YPatented'Feb. 25,1930

- I .EsTER nfsrne', y.or wiLKiivsn-Uncr, PENirsYLvANIA, AssIGNoR To THE UNION 0F PENNSYLVANIA SWITCH & SIGNAL,coivirAritz,v olif sw'issvALE, riiNiisYLvANiA, n 'CORPORATION "f APPARATUS roiaTiiEy coiiTii-oiJ oF TRACK iivijIcnTon's 'Animation med :muy i1, '1928.v serialV im.:einreif` y .Y

Myinvention relates apparatus forl the controlof track indicators, that is, indicators located in a-tower or other central `oficefor repeatingthe operation of the track relays of a series-of track sections.

Onefeature `of my invention is the provision of'meansffoi operatinga plurality of vsuchjindicators Vwith .a 'minimum number of line Vwires Vbetween they .track and the tower.

l willr describe two forms of apparatusem- In'the accompanying drawing, Fig. lis a diagrammatic View showing one form of ap` paratus embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a 1 diagrammatic view'showin'g a modified form v' of apparatus also embodying `my invention.

' 25 prising a track battery 3, anda track relayv Similar` reference characters refer tiosimi-vv r lar .parts in each of the views.'

' Referring first to Fg. l, he referencechar` acters l and lur designatethe rails of a railf designated by the reference character T Vwith y a distinguishing exponent. Located in a tow'- Ver orfother ycentral point are a plurality of .indicators K1, K2, K2 andK1, .which indica.-

tors are sc controlled as to repeatthe operations vof the track relays T1, T2, T3 andT2, respectively.

' is an electric lamp, but my invention is not i limited to an indicator of this type. ,35. l "two Vmultiple branches of a circuit which coin- The indicators K1 and K2 are included in prises two line wires 'Tand 8,. This circuit is Y also yprovided with two multiple Vbranches at the track, one of which branches includes Vcontact 4 ofy track relay T1,fand the other 'of which branches includes contact 4: of track 1 relay T2. The tower branch including indicatorKl is also provided witha'ii inductanceV 52 and a battery B, while the tower branch including indicator K2is also provided withy a condenser 6a and the secondary of atransy lformer C. The primary of this transformer is constantly supplied with alternating current from a source not shown in the drawing.

The trackway branch including contacte: of

' countiof condenser 61.' train enters sectionA1, so that track relay T1 .becomes`cle-energized, indicator K1 willbe i f extinguished because alternating current Y from transformer C cannot-reach this indi- As hereshown, each indicator.

track relay T1'is also provided with an inductance 5, while the trackwayv branch including' tor K1wi'llvv be lighted by current from ba'ttery B whichv flows freely through inductances and-.z whereas, indicator K2 willr bev lighted-by current'from transformer C which flowsV freely through condensersf and 62.

When a train enters section A2, track relay'v T2 willbede-energize'd, whereupon, indicator K2 will be extinguished, because current from battery B cannot reach this indicator on 'acl Similarly, when a lcator on account ofiinductance 52.

Theapparatus also vincludes second c iri cuit comprising line wires 8'and 9, andthisY second circuitis provided lwith twolmultiple towerv branches including 'indicators K2 and K2, respectively.y The second circuit is, likewise, provided withtwo trackwa'y'fbra'n'ches including icontactft' of'track relays T3 aiid 'f 1,"grespectively, theiirst branch being, pro'i A. i

vided with4 aninductance 5 V and the secondY se" Y branch withacondenser 6. Thetower branch. '1

including indicatorv K3'isprovidedIwith-an f inductance 51 and includes batteryB, while the tower branch for indicator K4 is provided` with a condenser 6?. andy includes the second`v y ary-of transformer'C. vThe operation -of indicatorsK3 and K1 in response to occupancy of j' track sections A? and A2, respectively, will be V'understood from. the foregoing `without lfurther explanation. Y i i 'Y 'Referring nowl `toJFigQ, the four indil` ca tois K1, K2, K3 and K4 arecontrolled by aal single kcircuit comprising a pairof line wires 7 vandfS', which circuithas four branches in the, towerand-fQurbranches at the track." VThis circuit is supplied with alternating currents .of four different lfrequencies bygenei rators G1, G2, G2' and G4 included in -thefour '2 tower( branches respectively.7 lvThe, Vtower lood:

dev ice V1, comprising an inductance l0a and a Vcondenser lla, which tuning device is adjusted for resonance at the frequency of generator G1. The trackway branch which includes contact 4L of track relay T1 is provided with asimilar timing device U1 made up of an induct-ance l0 and a condenser 11, this timing device, likewise, being adjusted for resonance at the frequency of generator G1. The tuning device V2 associated with indicator K2 and the timing device U2 associated with track relay T2, are both adjusted for resonance at the frequency of generator G2. The

tuning device V3 associated withindicator K, and the tunning device U3 associated with Vtrack rela f T3- are ad usted for resonance at the frequency of generator G3. The tun' ing device Vl associated with indicator K4, and the tuning device U* associated with track relayrTl, are adjusted for resonance at the lfrequency of generator Gt.

Vlien all four of the track sections are un cccupied,all four of the indicators "K are lighted. l."Vhen a train enters section At, Vindicator K4 is extinguished, because current from generator G4 cannot passthrough tuning devicesUl, 1tlg-and U3. Vlien a train enters section iig, indicator K3 is extin-r guished, becauseA current fromgenerator G3.

etc., whereas, with the apparatus shown inv Fig. 2, I am able to control any desired number of indicators over two line wires.

Although I have herein shown and described only two forms of apparatus embodying my invention, it is understood that various changes and modifications maybe made therein within the scope of the appended claimsy without departing from the spirit and' scope of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is: Y 4 Y l. In combination, two sections of railway track, a track circuit including` a track relay for .each section, a tower indicator for each section, a circuit having two multiple branches at the tower and two multiple branches at the track, one of said track branches including a contact of oneof said track relays and an inductance while the other track branch includes a contact Yof the other track relay and a condenser, one of said tower branchesincluding one of said indicators and an inductance while the other tower branch includes the other tower indicator and a condenser, a source of direct current included in one of said branches having an inductaiice, and a source of alternating current included in one of said branches having a condenser.

2. In combination, two sections of railway track, a track circuit including a track relay for each section, a'towerindicator for each 3. In combination, two sections of railway track, la track circuit including a track relay i'ioreach section, tower indicatorA for each section, a circuit having two :multiple branches at the towerY and two multiple branches at the track, one of said track branches including a contact of one of said track relays and the other of said track branches including-a contact of the other track relay, the two tower branches including the twosaid indicators, respectively,

means for supplying both direct and alternating Vcurrent to said circuit, means for preventing direct current fromk passing through one track Vbranch and one tower 'branch,.andmeans for preventing alternating current from passing through the other track branch and the other tower branch.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

kLnsinii n. s rRiiY. 

